In the aftermath of the murder, a cascade of misinformation and lies from the very top down. From Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair to the trigger-happy plain-clothes shooters identified only as "carrying a long-barrelled weapon", the actions that day have been exposed as a cover-up of the events that resulted in the extra-judicial execution of an innocent man.

The Murder of Jean Charles de Menezes

A security agency source contacted by the Sunday Herald said: “This take-out is the signature of a special forces operation. It is not the way the police usually do things. We know members of SO19 have been receiving training from the SAS, but even so, this has special forces written all over it.”

The aim of this thread is to piece together the story of what happened at Stockwell tube station on 22 July 2005 when a 27 year old Brazilian electrician was shot dead by armed, plain-clothes officers.

In order to do so, some analysis is required of the reports of the key players including, ultimately, as much detail as possible about Jean Charles de Menezes and his movements that morning.

The officers on the day are identifiable by their operational names. Commencing with those who were tasked with surveilling the block of flats in which de Menezes lived. The Tango team appear to have been watching the block of flats with groups of Hotels in pursuit.

Tango Ten:
Tango Ten was part of the first surveillance team and the watcher issued with D/V camera who failed to identify de Menezes positively because he was 'relieving himself'. At 9.33am he made these notes in his log book: "I observed a U/I [unidentified] male IC1 [white] 5'8" dark hair beard/stubble, blue denim jacket, blue jeans and wearing trainers exit the block, he was not carrying anything and at this time I could not confirm whether he was or was not either of our subjects.

From a Channel 4 News report of the leaked documents, not directly attributed to Tango Ten but which appear to fit his role in the events that day: "As he walked out of my line of vision I checked the photographs and transmitted that "it would be worth somebody else having a look". I should put out that as I observed this mail exiting the block I was relieving myself. At this time I was not able to transmit my observations and switch on the video camera at the same time. There is therefore no video footage of this male."

Hotel One:
Hotel One belonged to the first surveillance team and followed de Menezes from his flat. The officer reported hearing on his radio that Mr de Menezes had got off the bus in Brixton at 9.47am only to reboard at 9.49am - for reasons that are unclear. At 10.02am he got off the bus at Stockwell tube and was followed into the station by several surveillance officers.

Hotel One was part of the second surveillance team and followed de Menezes from the apartment block to Stockwell station. At Stockwell station Hotel One reported: "I could see one of my colleagues, Hotel Nine, on the escalator in front of me ... I walked on to the platform ... and stepped on to the train through the single open door. I was immediately aware of Hotel Three sat two seats to my right facing the platform."

Hotel Three:
Hotel Three admits being told to allow Mr de Menezes to enter the station. Hotel Three said he followed de Menezes into a train carriage and took a seat near him… “I took a seat to his left-hand side on the same carriage and there were about two or three members of the public between me and the male in the denim jacket.” His position on the train is also reported by Hotel One. About 10 to 15 seconds later, Hotel Three saw four men moving along the platform: "I immediately identified these men as police officers probably from SO19 and decided to identify the male in the denim jacket, who I followed on to the tube, to them as they appeared to be looking into the carriage as if searching for someone". After walking to the carriage doors, "I placed my left foot against the open carriage door to prevent it shutting ... I shouted 'He's here' and indicated to the male in the denim jacket with my right hand.

I then heard shouting which included the word 'police' and turned to face the male in the denim jacket. “He immediately stood up and advanced towards me and the (CO19) officers. I grabbed the male in the denim jacket by wrapping both my arms around his torso pinning his arms to his side. I grabbed the male in the denim jacket by wrapping both my arms around his torso pinning his arms to his side. I then pushed him back on to the seat where he had previously been sitting with the right-hand side of my head pressed against the right-hand side of his torso… I then heard a gunshot very close to my ear and was dragged away onto the floor of the carriage. I shouted ‘police’ and held up my hands. I was then dragged out of the carriage by an armed officer who appeared to be carrying a long-barrelled weapon. I heard several gunshots as I was being dragged out of the carriage.”

Hotel Nine:
Hotel Nine was near the double doors.

Gold Comand: The operational police command unit headed by Cressida Dick, issued an order that Mr de Menezes should be prevented from entering the tube system.

QUESTIONS

- If Gold Command had said intercept de Menezes why was he not intercepted at any point between leaving his flat and boarding the train at Stockwell?
- Why did de Menezes get off the bus at Brixton? Did he know he was being followed?
- Why did it take the Metropolitan Police two days to inform the de Menezes family of his death?
- The letter Ian Blair wrote to the IPCC to request that the inquiry be delayed was dated 21 July. It was republished with an introduction that suggested, of course, that the letter should be dated 22 July - the day of the shooting - yet Ian Blair stated he did not find out that an innocent man had been murdered until 10:30am on 23rd July. How can this be?
- There was a raid by scores of armed officers on the flats in which de Menezes lived on the Saturday after the shooting. Why would armed police raid the flat of a man they had already murdered a day previously?

QUESTIONS ABOUT PHOTO

- How did his shoes come off?
- CCTV footage is reported to show JCdM picking up a copy of the free Metro newspaper yet the documents either side of one of his shoes appear to be something other than a Metro Newspaper.
- There is a lot of blood on the seats on the first seat behind the second yellow poll on the left the body's blue denim shirt only appears to a small amount of blood on it over the right shoulder. How can this be?
- What are the random objects scattered on the floor?
- What is in the pile of white 'casing' like objects?
- Is the hand and visible torso paler than that of Jean Charles de Menezes in all the other photos of him?
- It took until 5pm the following day, July 23, for Scotland Yard to formally admit that the victim was not linked to the anti-terrorism operation. At 9.30pm Scotland Yard issued the name Jean Charles de Menezes.

[ working document - in progress ]

"The problem with always being a conformist is that when you try to change the system from within, it's not you who changes the system; it's the system that will eventually change you." -- Immortal Technique

"The media is the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses." -- Malcolm X

"The eternal fight is not many battles fought on one level, but one great battle fought on many different levels." -- The Antagonist

The inquest into the death Jean Charles de Menezes has resumed with a brief hearing.

The 27-year-old Brazilian electrician was shot dead at Stockwell Tube station in south London by anti-terror officers who mistook him for a suicide bomber.

His family have called for the inquest to be held before a High Court Judge rather than a coroner.

Solicitor Harriet Wistrich said: "With highly complex and contentious cases, these should be heard by a High Court judge rather than a coroner.

"We have asked them to look into this."

The Independent Police Complaints Commission has only recently completed its investigation into his death and sent its report to prosecutors.

And as the Crown Prosecution Service is still considering whether to charge any of the Metropolitan Police officers involved in the operation that led to his fatal shooting, a full inquest hearing cannot be held.

Instead, the resumed hearing at Southwark Coroner's Court in south London is likely to be a brief, administrative affair.

"The problem with always being a conformist is that when you try to change the system from within, it's not you who changes the system; it's the system that will eventually change you." -- Immortal Technique

"The media is the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses." -- Malcolm X

"The eternal fight is not many battles fought on one level, but one great battle fought on many different levels." -- The Antagonist

Interesting points. In the original leak reports covered by Dan Rivers of ITV News, they created a CGI reconstruction of the information that was contained in the leaked documents. In those reconstructions - and I've never seen or heard reference to this since - there were apparently watchers already on the train when he entered the carriage who alerted the followers to his presence.

I agree that it makes no sense to have followed a possible SB to a station after having let him get on and off two buses. It also makes sense that it would be easier to portray him as a potential suicide bomber if they shot him underground as opposed to on the streets.

The eye witness statements from the day would tend to suggest that there are special circumstances surrounding this operation. And then there's the Brazilian connection....

"The problem with always being a conformist is that when you try to change the system from within, it's not you who changes the system; it's the system that will eventually change you." -- Immortal Technique

"The media is the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses." -- Malcolm X

"The eternal fight is not many battles fought on one level, but one great battle fought on many different levels." -- The Antagonist

I would say that de Menenez could not get on the Victoria Line at Brixton because it was suspended due to the Vauxhall Incident. I might have posted this before.

On 22/7, before the Stockwell shooting (10am) there was an incident on the Victoria line at Vauxhall, one stop north of Stockwell, timed at about 9.10am. By 9.30am there were at least a dozen emergency vehicles lined up on the Albert Embankment. The operation went on for three hours, apparently.

There was almost no media coverage. What there was put it down to a false alarm.

The acrid blue mist reported in the Tube carriage might have been due to some electrical fault but the official story does not mention the fumes (see below).

I have asked British Transport Police for the official line on the whole incident:
A woman saw an unattended bag, panicked, pulled the alarm which in turn caused the other passengers to panic. The ‘fumes’ came from brakes being applied. The problem with this account is that the alarm was raised in our carriage because of fumes, the fumes did not come subsequently. Also it was just as we were leaving Stockwell station - I cant imagine that the first thing the driver did was to apply brakes, we had to make it to Vauxhall to evacuate. Anyway, I dont want to go over too much old ground. I also wouldnt want to hazard a guess as to why this wasn’t reported as a very significant false alarm. In fact the only thing that I can say with total confidence is that the fumes on my carriage were not imaginary.

I was also on the carriage between Stockwell and vauxhall were the alarm was raised. Just wanted to add that I too could smell fumes and see a bluish mist that was unlike anything else I had seen or smelled on the tube. I tried to remian sceptical for as long as possible, but it became overpowering causing people to cough- at that point the ‘oh my god’ woman pulled the alarm. There was a panic, but not nearly as bad as some have made out -at least not on that carriage. The ‘hysterical’ woman was, obviously, very distressed but reacted faster than anyone around her in getting to the alarm and evacuating the carriage. This situation would have warranted the alarm to have been pulled regardless of any recent terrorist activity. For a journalist Nosemonkey seems to have been a little premature in dismissing this incident outright - everyone around me was independently reacting to the fumes, covering their mouths and coughing before the woman described as a ‘rabid spactard’ actually cried out.

Me and my girlfriend were both on the actual carriage in Vauxhall that filled with fumes after leaving Stockwell. The operation took over three hours - significantly longer than any of the recent ‘false alarms’. The station was about to be reopened within about 20 minutes of the incident when police realised that the smell of the fumes was NOT the smell of the trains emergency brakes. They then mounted a very large security operation including bomb disposal units in contamination suits and masks. We both stayed with the police in the cordon throughout, then were moved at one point, completely out of sight into the street behind. I can say, and several other witnesses will corroborate, that our carriage definately filled with some kind of acrid chemical smelling haze, which we first tried to ignore but eventually became so strong that people began to cough. The reports of hysteria in the carriage affected are wildly exaggerated, most people managed to remain considerate and fairly calm under the circumstances. For a false alarm this was a pretty major operation, taken very seriously by the officers in the cordon. It’s absence from any news reports from that day seems a little conspicuous to me.

LONDON (Reuters) - Senior judges have upheld a decision to delay the inquest into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian shot dead on a London train by police who believed he was a suicide bomber.

His family had wanted the inquest to be held before the trial of the Metropolitan Police, charged under health and safety laws.

They appealed to the High Court to quash Southwark coroner John Sampson's decision to delay the inquest until the end of proceedings against the police.

But two judges, Lord Justice Laws and Mr Justice Mitting, ruled on Thursday that the coroner had acted within his powers after the Director of Public Prosecutions requested the delay.

A spokesman for the De Menezes family said the ruling "added to the distress of the family who have already had to wait two years for a simple investigation at an inquest".

De Menezes, 27, was shot seven times in the head after he boarded an underground train at Stockwell station in south London on July 22, 2005.

The shooting came two weeks after four suicide bombers killed 52 people on the capital's transport network and the day after police said four others tried to set off more bombs on trains.

Last July, prosecutors said no police officer would face criminal charges over the shooting. The Crown Prosecution Service instead ruled that the force as a whole should be prosecuted under health and safety laws.

"The problem with always being a conformist is that when you try to change the system from within, it's not you who changes the system; it's the system that will eventually change you." -- Immortal Technique

"The media is the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses." -- Malcolm X

"The eternal fight is not many battles fought on one level, but one great battle fought on many different levels." -- The Antagonist

Working on the assumption that they didn't follow him from his house because they didn't know where he lived:

They could easily work out his movements afterwards by going back through bus and street CCTV footage.

The bomb squad and all sorts of heavies were at Stockwell station on high alert after the incident mentioned above with smoke in a carriage.

Jean Charles used an "oyster" card in a ticket barrier and that's when all hell seemed to break loose. Am I right in thinking these cards are often registered to a particular person, and that if they were, they would have an address linked to them, but maybe not an up-to-date one?

But Duncan, what men believe isn't important - it's our actions which make us right or wrong. - Alasdair Gray - Lanark